CHINA

I left for Beijing very early in the morning. At the airport I tried my best to spend the last of my Hong Kong dollars since mainland China uses Yuan’s not HKD’s. I bought two gossip magazines which were a great investment because I had no idea what was going on in the world of Hollywood! We learn about world issues and problems in Global Studies but I had been lacking the celebrity gossip! Rihanna got beat up by Chris Brown? What?!? That’s probably old news to all of you guys. After the 3 hour flight to Beijing it was at least 30 degrees colder! Surprisingly I was happy! Since we left the weather has been so fricken hot everywhere so it was refreshing to wear a jacket and scarf again. I left when it was freezing outside so it actually made me feel like I was a little closer to home. Once we got there we went to a traditional Chinese restaurant where we had Peaking duck! I’ve already had that a few times cause its Gabe’s like favorite Chinese dish so I felt pretty cool knowing how to eat it and telling everyone else about it! After dinner we went to our hotel which was located on a university campus. The first night we were there our heat was broken so it was FREEZING cold in our room. I actually caught a cold because of it which sucked. We went to bed pretty early the first night because we were climbing the great wall the next morning!
I got up for breakfast and was looking forward to eating a bit cause I knew we’d be busy all day. Well all they had for breakfast was lunch food. Rice, chicken, beef, dumplings, and much more I was a little disappointed so I just ate lots of dumplings and got ready to go. The great wall was about an hour outside of Beijing. I slept on the way and when I woke up I was there! We piled out of the bus and were hit with a gust of wind. We were given 2 hours to wander around and I was thinking that was way too much time to just see a wall but I was wrong. We began the hike up and soon realized that climbing the great wall was going to be quiet a workout. We were taken to a really old part of the great wall where there haven’t been very many renovations. There are some areas of the great wall that have a gondola that takes you to the top then a toboggan slide that takes you down, we had neither. Oh well I say we had a more authentic experience. Climbing all the way to the top was honestly one of the hardest things I have ever done, I wanted to give up so many times but I knew if I did I would regret it and I couldn’t buy an I climbed the great wall t shirt and feel good about it! So we made our way to the top after quite a few stops. I was amazed at how many local Chinese people were there. They bring lunches and picnic at the top. The most embarrassing thing was when a 60 year old Chinese woman would pass us on the way to the top or when a 70 year old man smoking a cigarette would pass us! Ha well we made it and it was worth it! The views were incredible. From where we were we weren’t really able to see very much of the massive wall because we were at an end where the wall looped around. So we saw like a mirror image of where we were on the other side. It was just incredible being atop of something that was so old and had so much history. I couldn’t imagine being stationed at the top area and having to climb up all those stairs to work every day. One thing I didn’t really like was the little tourist shops that were on the way up. There were two shops that we stopped at on the way up, one of them was playing American music which we thought was pretty funny. After we climbed all the way to the top we realized we would have to climb back down too!!! Ha climbing back down was easier physically but harder because the steps were sooo tall it was easy to stumble down them! I am proud to say that I didn’t trip once! That’s a true accomplishment for me!
After the Great Wall we made our way to the Summer Palace. This was the palace where the emperor would spend his summers. It’s on a lake so it stayed a little cooler during the hot summer months. It was huge with so many different court yards and rooms. I really like ancient Asian architecture. There were beautiful blossom trees and shrubs everywhere. I especially loved the palace because the rooms had furniture in them, the same furniture that was actually used the time the palace was in full swing. I like places like this because it makes them feel more real some of the empty forts we go to I can’t really appreciate because I don’t know what they looked like, I mean I can imagine which is fun but sometimes seeing the real thing is cooler. On the outside of the buildings they have cool statues of all different types dragons. We found out that these were actually used to burn incense to scent the entire palace area. There was this old man performing music with his wife, it was some of the strangest sounds I have ever heard. The man was practicing the art of throat singing so it was more sounds than words and singing. It was so cool and nice because they were just performing for the sake of it. They weren’t begging for money just enjoying the afternoon which made me enjoy my afternoon a little more too! The palace was really cool and very peaceful. It was huge one of the biggest places I’ve ever been too we didn’t even see the entire thing and I can only imagine how many people lived there when it was in use.
After the Summer Palace we headed to Tsinghua University to meet up with some local college students. Tsinghua University is the most prestigious university in China, it is like the Harvard of China so we all felt pretty lucky to be visiting. We had a student guide whose English name was Andy. We asked him how they pick their English names and he said they just randomly pick them in English class. He took us for a tour of the university which was amazing. It was so cool being on a traditional college campus again. Seeing people studying outside, walking to class, riding their bikes, drinking coffee! I didn’t realize how much I missed being on a real campus until I visited here. We saw some of the school buildings and learned a lot about the students. At the university they turn off their electricity between the hours of 10pm-6am every single night. Andy said it was because if they didn’t the students would be awake all night long. Can you believe that? Nowhere in America would ever do that, I don’t even think a University would ever even need to do that. Also everyone that goes to school there has to live in on campus housing. The foreign students live in separate dorms than the Chinese students. I found this really strange so I asked our guide why it was like that and he said he thought it was their choice that those dorms were nicer so they wanted to live there. That didn’t quite match up with me, I doubt that every single student from abroad wanted to live in nicer more expensive dorms than the Chinese students. I think it had something to do with the government trying to keep the spread of ideas from reaching the youth of China. So crazy.
We ate dinner at one of the many cafeterias and it was one of my favorite meals of the whole trip! Ha I think it was because the Chinese food was like fast food Chinese for them so it was similar to the Chinese food we are used to at home. Anyways it was delicious! After dinner we met two other students who took us to the campus book store. On the way we talked to them about the things they liked to do. They told us they never had free time they just study all the time and on occasion go shopping or out to eat. I was shocked that they don’t drink ever or party or hang out with lots of friends. It just seemed so different than at home, granted it was the best school in China. All the students were so intelligent but still seemed so naive or innocent I don’t really know what the right word to describe them was. They seemed so misinformed and I know a lot of that has to do with the governments law on the press and education and things like that. The students were all very nice and hospitable I am actually friends with a few of them on Face book now. I told them to study abroad in America at University of Iowa! Andy said a few of his friends were actually abroad at University of Illinois! It was a really cool experience to see how people my age live on the other side of the world. It definitely made me appreciate my home a bit more.
The next day we went to the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is right across the street from Forbidden city so we began here. There were a ton of people here but our tour guide didn’t tell us much about it just that there is a celebration there every year. She told us nothing about the Massacre apparently in China it is referred to as just a misunderstanding. There were guards surrounding the Forbidden City and a giant picture of Mao Zedong on the outside. We walked in and there were little kiosks selling knick knacks all over, not what I was expecting. Chinese people are soooo pushy. They seriously push you around like you are a piece of dirt. I dono where they are going in such a hurry, honestly we are all going to get into the forbiddedn city what’s the big rush? Anyways I was kind of disappointed in the Forbidden City which is actually just the Winter Palace. It was pretty in design with lots of gates to get to the main palace. The garden however was absolutely beautiful. They have these strange sponge rocks everywhere. After the Forbidden City we went for lunch. On the Way to lunch we noticed a strange pattern of young children wearing butt less pants. It was so disgusting they were everywhere I noticed it when I saw one climbing a fence yuck! And it was cold outside! I asked someone about it and I guess they do that to help them potty train. I mean it kind of makes sense it’s less expensive than diapers, not sure how much more hygienic but I sort of understand it. Another thing here that I noticed that is just as gross is the spitting. People in China spit everywhere all the time they just hock big loogies and spit them no matter where or who you are with! And like I said before the pushing and the budging oh the budging is just so bad. Like 10 of us girls were in line to use a bathroom and a group of 8 Chinese women come barging in. They just stroll right in walk past us (in line) and budge us to use the bathroom. By that point in the trip we had had enough. I understand cultural norms and such but they don’t budge other Chinese people only us and I was sick and tired of being walked all over. So there we were boxing people out in the bathroom and they still tried breaking through! It was ridiculous! We would be in the bathroom stall and before we got out we’d make sure there was a semester at sea person who was waiting for our stall! I guess during the Olympics people complained so much about the budging that the government has line days where waiting in lines for the trains, busses, or bathrooms are enforced by the police. Ok that was a highly unnecessary story I just told you but oh well!
After Forbidden City we went to the Temple of Heaven. This place was really cool. After seeing lots of temples and palaces they all kind of blend together but this one was cool. It had a park area where people come and relax or play games. While we were there they had a senior citizens dance session in the park! It was really fun we joined in! At the temple they have this one section where the emperor would stand when addressing God. We stood on it and felt so cool! Ha anyways the temple was pretty cool there were lots of different parts to it and like usual it was HUGE! The coolest thing about this temple was probably the huge doors that were before every section.
Next we headed to the Chinese acrobat show. This was by far the coolest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. The way these young girls can move their bodies and bend them and support each other is just incredible. They fit like 20 girls on one single bicycle! They also did this crazy trick with these like hamster wheels it’s hard to describe I guess you just have to see it. But it was definitely one of the best shows I have ever been to.
After dinner we were able to go to the market and shop till we drop and boy did I! When I thought of shopping in China this was what I pictured. It was a shopping center 7 stories tall full of knockoffs and real designer items. After all my shopping experiences I have come to be a very good bargainer so my friend and I bargained away and bought away. I spent more money in China than I did in South Africa and Namibia combined! Haha oh well it was worth it the entire time I was spending I just kept telling myself when are you ever going to be in China again getting all these great deals? They had all types of purses, north faces, ugg boots, I was in heaven. In the mall they give you different colored bags to indicate if you are a hard bargainer (yellow bags) or a push over (white bags) let’s just say I always got the yellow bags!
The next morning we were off to go do the things I was most excited for during our trip to Beijing. We headed to the Panda zoo first! I LOVE zoos! I think they are so much fun and they make me sooo happy and I have never seen a real panda before so I couldn’t wait. We got to the Beijing zoo at like 10 am before the big crowds got there. The Beijing zoo was a free zoo except you had to pay for the panda exhibit. The panda exhibit was pretty nice it was similar to any of the exhibits at the Lincoln Park zoo. The pandas were soooo cool! They look like the friendliest little bears ever! Like you could pick one up and just hug it and hold it forever! They are much dirtier in person then you imagine them. One of them just sat there eating bamboo and staring at all of us like we were the animals it was really funny. After the Panda exhibit we had time to explore the zoo which was not so cool. It was such a letdown after seeing the panda exhibit. The rest of the zoo was so sad it was more of an animal prison than a zoo. The Cat house literally looked like a prison. The walls, ceiling, and floor were made out of the same cement. The cats were in prison cells, cement boxes with two sets of metal bars blocking them from the outside world. They had no toys in their cages except for car tires. I am not a huge animal rights activist person but I really don’t see how anyone could have thought that was a suitable environment for a large animal to live in. The elephant house was no better. The HUGE elephant was in a room probably as big as my kitchen. They could barely turn themselves around in the little box. The girl I was with couldn’t even stay inside those areas because they just upset her too much. None of the locals seemed to see any problem with it probably because it is what they are used to but to us it was very sad.
After the Prison zoo we headed to the Birds Nest and Water Cube!!!! I was a pretty avid Olympics watcher especially the swimming and diving portion so I could not wait! We pulled up and I was sooo excited. We saw the birds nest first. It was so cool looking. It literally looks like a giant birds nest from the outside. We went through the security check where you weren’t allowed to bring in lighters which I found odd, dealt with more budging from the locals, then finally we were inside! Walking into that park was such an incredible feeling. I dono why but I felt proud for some reason! I know it sounds strange I think it’s just cause I got that Olympic pride feel all over. We were able to walk out onto the field, run around the track, sit in the stands, take pictures with the weird Chinese Olympic symbol people, it was so much fun. It definitely convinced me that I need to go to an Olympics at some point in my life. One thing that was odd about the birds nest were the lack of bathrooms, there were very few of them I was even more surprised when I finally found one and they were squatters. I thought that with the Olympics having so many foreign tourists they would put in western toilets but no!
Now we were off to the water cube. Before we got in we had to go and buy our tickets. The entrance was at one end of the cube and ticket sales on the complete opposite. I don’t know what genius thought up that layout but it took forever to walk all the way around the cube to buy a ticket to have to walk all the way back to the entrance! It was so worth it though. It was beautiful inside! The outside was obviously shaped like a cube and blue with water running around the perimeter. On the inside everything was white and modern looking. Some of the walls were clear plastic that had water running through them. We walked into the main stadium and I was speechless! It was just so cool to be in the same room that Michael Phelps won all his medals in! Everything looked exactly the same as it did on TV. I loved it, it was so much fun being there and seeing all that. It was just so amazing cause while I was watching the Olympics never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that in a few months I would be sitting in the same stands as those fans. It was AMAZING!
After the Olympics area we had some time to kill so we went to another shopping mall. I did a bit more damage but not too much then got some pizza for lunch! Then we headed to the massive Beijing airport for our flight to Shanghai. The flight to Shanghai was the scariest plane ride of my life. The plane was massive which I usually like cause there isn’t as much turbulence but this was an exception. It was a double decker plane which I didn’t even know existed! The whole flight was just up and down and up and down, you know that feeling you get when a plane first takes off like when your tummy sinks a little? That happened the whole time! And it didn’t help that the girl sitting next to me’s dad was a pilot so she is sitting there telling me how this would never happen in the states and it’s a violation of codes etc etc. I have never been so happy to be on land ever before!
Shanghai
Unfortunately we didn’t get into Shanghai until like midnight so I was too tired to explore. The next morning however Win and I took on Shanghai! It was a bit difficult getting a cab though. We walked into a travel agency and had them write down our destination in Chinese. We would show the cab drivers and they would just say no. They wouldn’t give us a reason why just shake their heads and drive away. Finally we found someone who would drive us to the market. Once we got to the clothes market a group of about 7 men opened our cab door for us and tried to get us to come into their store. We told them we had no money so they immediately led us to an ATM. Literally for the next hour they followed us around the shopping center. We told them NO and GET AWAY and NO FRIEND but they wouldn’t listen. It was so strange never had we had someone follow us for so long just to get us to come to their shops. Finally after very much NO FRIEND they left. We figured out a good method to keep people like that away from us, we just started speaking a fake language to each other. They would come up say hi and we would say bonjour! Then fake speak French and they would just leave ha it was a great plan. After shopping I got some coffee with tapioca balls at the bottom of it which I am totally going to look for when I get back in the states. After shopping we walked around the area. We saw adorable little Chinese babies which by the way I never did see a family with more than one kid. Then we saw these puppies for sale in the basket of a bicycle for only 200 yuans which was like 50 bucks and they were SOO cute! We had a few yuans left so we went and bought some groceries for our rooms and headed back to the ship. It was really difficult getting a cab again. We even got into a cab and kicked out. When we got back to the ship we heard that other people had had similar problems. The language barrier was also really difficult in China it was hard to communicate with most of the people there. This was one of the first if not only countries where locals would come up to us and just speak to us in Chinese like we would just understand them! Do I look like I speak Chinese? Someone made a good point though in all these countries I go up to locals and ask them something in English.
China was a really amazing country to visit. I think I liked it so much because it was so different from the United States. Vietnam was a communist country but only in rare instances did it feel like it. While being in Vietnam it felt normal and natural not like what I think of when I hear the word communist. China on the other hand was much different. I mean the news papers there have nothing of substance in them. Fluff articles fill the pages of the Chinese Times. Many websites are blocked, phone lines tapped, the government goes through everyone’s emails, you can’t speak about politics, have your own opinion on anything it was just crazy. The strangest thing is that the people don’t seem to have a problem with it at all. Actually I’m not sure if it’s that they don’t have a problem with it so much as they can’t talk about it. Can you imagine not being able to talk politics? Ever! I mean what would our family do on holidays? We wouldn’t have anything to talk about! It’s just crazy mind boggling even how different people live over there.

HONG KONG

So we pulled into Hong Kong very early on March 29th. I didn’t really know what to expect so boy was I blown away by the amazing skyline. We were docked on the Kowloon side so we had the best view in the City of Hong Kong Island. We went through customs and got our departure cards and went to meet up with Alice Law the young woman that Greg works with and hooked me up with for the day! She told us she would be wearing a pink coat so we immediately found her and her friend Yolanda at the mall. They were ready to take us anywhere and we heard that the Stanley Market was a good place to go. They hadn’t been there in a while which we should have taken as a sign of it not being the best but we went anyways. We took the star ferry from the Kowloon side to the Hong Kong side. It was only about a 3 minute ride then we hopped on a bus to take us to the Market. The bus was huge a double decker, we sat on the top of course. The views were amazingly beautiful. I had no idea that Hong Kong had so much natural beauty. Away from all the tall buildings is a beautiful beachfront area which we were able to see from on top of the huge hills. We made it to the Stanley market and were a little disappointed. It wasn’t very big, all their knockoffs were terrible SOOO terrible, and it was kind of expensive with not a lot of bartering which we were all very used to. I swear we are all going to go home and be shopping at like Macys ask how much something is and say no I will give you 10 dollars for this shirt, what NO? ok I am walking away this is me walking away haha that’s probably funnier in my head or only to the people I am with oh well. We did a little shopping then sat down for lunch. We went to a restaurant that was a mix of western food and Chinese food. Alice ordered for my 3 friends and I, she got us Dim Sum and rice then she ordered spaghetti for herself and Yolanda! We found that funny. Then we ventured to Hong Kong Park. Here is where you ride the gondolas up to the top of Victoria’s Peak which is a really famous lookout but it was so overcast that we decided not to. So we just walked around there for a little. There were coy fish ponds everywhere, families picnicking, and crazy cool fountains.
Then we took the subway to the downtown area of Hong Kong. While going to get on the subway we were there at a time when half the people were getting on and half were getting off. One of our friends Trish hopped right on while the rest of us were waiting for the next train because we wouldn’t all have gotten on that one. Well the doors shut Trish saw us all out of the train and we saw her in it and we all immediately burst out laughing! Poor Trish she was probably freaking out. Alice kept screaming at her to get off at the next stop but she looked like she had no idea what we were saying. Luckily for us and her someone on the train saw what had happened and told her to get off at the next stop so she did and Alice got off the train and found her there! We couldn’t stop laughing about it! We thought it was hilarious.
When we got off at the Mokow stop we all had to take a step back because there were so many people! That was the first time that I had felt the rush of an enormous amount of people like I had been expecting in Hong Kong. There were flashing signs, electronics, and lights everywhere on the street. When you imagine Hong Kong in your mind this is what you think of. We were so excited! Trish had to buy a camera so we had a reason to look at all the cool electronic stores. Alice called her husband to come and help us which was so sweet. It was really nice having locals there because they were able to communicate with the shopkeepers for us and make sure that we didn’t get taken which tourists usually do!
In Hong Kong they have this strange religion called fall of the dome or faulk dome or something like that I’m sorry can’t really remember the name. It’s not so much a religion as it is a political view. As you all know China is a communist country and Hong Kong is a different like sect of China it’s really confusing. But in mainland China you cannot speak out against the government ever or else you are thrown in jail for a pretty long time however Hong Kong is more tolerant of outside views. So this religion speaks out against the government and often has demonstrations on the streets. In the middle of the street I saw a man lying on a table with white sheets draped all over him. Standing above him was a man dressed as a doctor holding a scalpel over the guy’s heart. This was all very strange to me so of course I asked Alice’s husband what was going on. He told me it was too complicated to explain but I had learned a bit about the religion in school so I asked him if that was what it was and he said yes. It was a demonstration to show how the Chinese government enforces capital punishment more than any other country and when they kill the prisoners they sell their organs. I was SHOCKED I couldn’t imagine this actually happening anywhere it just sounded so wrong to me. I’ll never forget that eerie feeling I had staring at this demonstration.
We went to the ladies market which was a little more of what I was expecting when I thought about shopping in Hong Kong. We shopped for a few hours but I contained myself, I didn’t want to go wasting all my money on the first day when I didn’t know what else China had to offer! After shopping we took the subway underground under the water back to our ship in Kowloon. Once we got there I gave Alice a cubs T shirt and my friend Trish who is from New York gave her husband and Yolanda I <3 New York T-shirts, they seemed pretty excited about them. It was so amazing having them take us around for the day. It was fun too because we got to learn more about Hong Kong having them as local tour guides. I also think they learned a bit from us too while we were there. They were both so nice and giving and so excited to show us their hometowns. It was really an amazing experience.
That night we ate dinner and watched the light show in the skyline. Like I said before we had the BEST view of the Hong Kong Skyline and every night at 8:30 they put on a show. The buildings each have very colorful lights and they create really cool patterns with them. Overall Hong Kong was really really cool. I only had one day there so it would have been nicer to spend more time there. I don’t think that my one day visit did Hong Kong much justice. There was so much that I wish I could have seen and experienced there. Oh well guess that just means I have to go back!

VIETMAN

Sorry guys this is going to be a very long blog but I really wanted to do Vietnam justice because it was the port that had the biggest impact on me. We pulled into Ho Chi Minh City early morning on Sunday March 22nd. We had big plans for the day and had to get going as early as possible to squeeze it all in. We began with trying to get a taxi. Ughh these taxi drivers were by far the worst we have run into so far. They look at us and think we are stupid tourists who they can just manipulate easily. Little do they know that we have been traveling for over 2 months and have had plenty of experiences with jerk off cab drivers. Anyways all of these cabbies wanted 10 us dollars to go less than a mile. And NONE of them would back down NONE it was awful. We were probably arguing with them for at least 15 minutes. I was so frustrated I just wanted to get to the museum we wanted to go to before it closed so finally we agreed to pay 6 bucks to go about 6 blocks. We paid and he gave us money back in dong and instead of giving us 30,000 dong he ripped us off and only gave us 3,000 dong. I was furious it was not a good way to begin the day. I just hate people that are so mean and rude like that. In a metered taxi it should cost a maximum of 17,000 dong (1 U.S. dollar) to get anywhere in Ho Chi Minh. He made SO much money off of us and then ripped us off. I just can’t stand people like that. Anyways our first stop was the Reunification Palace.
This place was the former President of the South’s house. They had a huge North Vietnamese replica tank on the lawn. This was a replica of the tank that ran through the gate at the palace on the fall of Saigon (which interestingly is referred to by the people of Vietnam as the Liberation of Saigon not the fall as we call it.) We walked into the house and waited in line for a tour guide to show us around. We went through the house and visited the different rooms and things like that. The basement was by far the most interesting. The basement is virtually untouched from the day the North took over. It was filled with old telephones, American radios, generators, and maps planning different plans for attack. It was very eerie being in that basement knowing who had been there and what being there meant. It was so cool though I felt like I was a part of history being in that basement.
Next we made our way over to the War Remnants Museum but not before getting ripped off by another cab driver. I am serious all this arguing over prices and everything it really wears you out. We literally had to go 2 blocks and we would have walked but we didn’t want to get lost since we were on a time constraint. Well we should have walked let me tell you. We had to pay another 6 U.S. dollars and our cab driver did not take us to the right place! We got out of the cab about 2 blocks before the museum and we had no idea where we were. It was very hard to communicate with other people because not much English was spoken. So it wound up taking us 30 minutes to get there! Oh well we got there.
I wrote this entire blog and skipped describing this section of the museum because I didn’t really know what to tell you about it. I wasn’t sure if I should go into the grave details about what I saw or if I should just let it be. I will try and go somewhere in between and if you think it isn’t somewhere in the middle I am sorry but I tried my best. Whatever it is I describe or say will not do justice to what I saw here and how it made me feel.
I entered the museum and went straight to the middle building. Here was a large display of photographs of American soldiers committing horrible terrible war crimes. The museum used to be called the American War Crimes Museum. The very first image in the museum is an excerpt from the United States Declaration of Independence. I suspect this was an attempt to show how hypocritical the United States is/was. This was really the only thing in the museum that pissed me off. I felt it was a low blow or a hit below the belt to an already disturbing display of American acts. The photos I saw I will never be able to forget. Pictures of Americans holding the heads of Vietnamese civilians with smirks on their faces, a man holding a carcass, soldiers holding guns to children’s heads, children wandering around screaming and crying looking for their parents as the Americans burnt their villages, raped their mothers, then killed both their parents. Perhaps the most disturbing image for me was the one of the little children running away from their village. American soldiers walk behind them with their guns. Front and center is a young girl about 8 or so with no clothes on, mouth open, crying, arms wide as if she is screaming and begging for help. Her clothes were burnt off by a napalm bomb. They were literally burnt right off her tiny body.
There was a section on the effects of Agent Orange. For those of you who don’t know what that is it is a chemical we used during the war to kill the foliage in the jungle. North Vietnamese troops would hide in the jungle so the easiest and fastest way to get rid of this was by using chemicals. Well these chemicals also affected people. They killed people and caused deformation in children generations later. There were images of people born without arms, legs, no eyes, deformed beyond the point of human recognition. This is something that I even witnessed young men and women begging for money on the streets to this day because they can’t get jobs. They cannot get jobs because they are mentally retarded or lack limbs. All of this is because of what we did. I felt so terrible when I would see people on the streets like this. I couldn’t help but feel responsible and ashamed to be an American.
The next section of the museum was called the tiger cage. It displayed the torture that American soldiers would induce on North troops as well as civilians. Some of them included water boarding, unleashing venomous snakes in women’s pants, starvation, and many more terrible acts. They had displays of what the prisons would look like with sickly thin Vietnamese models inside. The whole feel and tone of this section is just indescribable. I literally felt sick to my stomach and still do just thinking about it.
Next was a section on the opposition to the war. With different propaganda from Vietnam as well as many countries in Europe who didn’t believe in American interference. There was a section on the United States citizens protesting the war. One thing I noticed here though was the extreme bias that was being displayed in the Museum. Instead of showing peaceful protests they only had photos of violent ones which erupted or extreme acts that Americans took. For example there were photos from the protest on the college campus that resulted in deaths of students. They also showed photos of the people who voluntarily burnt themselves to death in an attempt to make a point. This museum chose to display even the Americans who were on “their side” in a poor violent light.
The fourth room displayed the amount of time and money that America spent on the war. It tried to prove the point that we were there too long, spent too much money, and knew nothing about what we were getting ourselves into. Finally the last room displayed photographs of the photographers and their importance in the war. There was a book which had a list of photographers who died in the war. It was sad reading some of their testimonies. These men and women were a large part of the war but could do nothing. The terrible things they saw on both sides could not be stopped or prevented by them. Just imagine how helpless they must have felt. One photographer wrote about how difficult it was to take the photographs. He said, “I would tell the troops to wait just one minute, snap my picture then walk away. I would never turn back to see what had happened. But I knew the gun shots would sound, the screams and cries would rage on, and I knew.” I could never imagine being in a situation like that.
Walking through the museum I knew that what I was seeing was a very bias display of the war, but pictures don’t lie. We did terrible awful things to these people and I see that now. I wish I could explain better what I saw I wish all of you could see it and I pray that Americans never do anything like that again. It made me think and question a lot of things. Although it was very hard and difficult to walk through the museum I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to.
After the museum we went to lunch at a restaurant called Lemongrass where we met up with some other friends. Lunch was great! It was an amazing start to the long week of Vietnamese food. After lunch we hopped into another cab and were relieved when it was a legit metered taxi! Guess how much it cost us? Only 10,000 dong!!! Finally we were not cheated and did not have to argue and boy did it feel good. Once in the market we all split up and did some shopping. After that was done we hopped in yet another cab that was metered! Woo thank god! No not thank god it was a rigged meter! Ugh it went from 10,000 dong to 30,000 don’t to 50,000 dong in like 1 minute. It was awful. Probably the worst way to get ripped off because you know the cab driver is deceiving you but he doesn’t speak any English and just keeps pointing to the meter and doesn’t let you out of his car until you pay him what the meter says. It was awful and just a really crappy experience. Once on the ship I watched some of my newly bootleg DVDs and got ready for dinner!
Well we got all dressed up and were planning on having a big group of about 20 out to dinner. Half of us made the 7:30 trolley and the other half didn’t. So plans fell through a bit and we all went our separate ways. We ate at a really nice Vietnamese restaurant on one of the busiest streets! After din din we met up with the rest of the group at the famous Rex Hotel. The Rex Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Ho Chi Minh City and has a really cool roof top bar. Once up there they had a live band playing and tables set up everywhere. We sat down had one delicious passion fruit martini which cost us an arm and a leg! Oh well we definitely paid for the atmosphere and it was well worth it. I headed home at a reasonable hour considering I had to be awake by 4 am the next morning to catch my flight.
It was awfully dark when I woke up that morning but I was so excited to be going up to the Northern part of Vietnam in Hanoi. We boarded our flight at 6:30am on the biggest plane I had ever been on. There were 50 rows of 12 seats and they even served airplane food! I was shocked I forgot that there was once a time that airlines served food! It was a nice smooth flight and we arrived in Hanoi 2 hours later.
We boarded our bus and began the 3 hour drive to Ha Long Bay. Along the way we saw endless fields of rice paddies! The beautiful shades of green that line the highways make Vietnam such a beautiful country. Along with the thousands of rice paddies come tons of cool rice hats! As far as the eye can see there are rows and rows of soggy green rice plants and people in their woven rice hats hunched over working the fields. Vietnam is the second largest producer of rice in the world (Thailand is 1st and America is 3rd.) On the way we made a pit stop at a traditional Vietnamese market. Most of the people working in the market have never seen an American or even a white person in their entire lives. I felt like I was an alien walking through that place. Most of us were too tall to even fit under the ropes and tarps which serve as roofs for their little stands. The meat tables were by far the nastiest thing I have ever seen. They sell meat on a wooden table it just sits there flies landing all over it the sun beating down on it. I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was really a great thing to see how these small town rural people live considering they are the majority of the country.
Once we arrived in Ha Long Bay we had some lunch and checked into our hotel. After that we had some free time before dinner so we explored around the area. Unfortunately for us it was pretty rainy and overcast so I didn’t make it outside long. We had dinner at the hotel and it was great! Vietnamese food is my new favorite! It’s less spicy than Thai food and saltier than Chinese food. I ate white rice and soy sauce up the wazoo while in Vietnam. After dinner we headed to the night market which was located on the beach across the street from our hotel. We stopped at the convenient store in the market and bought a few 25 cent beers to drink while we walked around. As we stared at the repetitive goods we couldn’t escape the sound of people singing karaoke! They LOVE Karaoke in Vietnam and that night was no exception. There were people of all ages belting out tunes and attempting to hit notes that nobody should hit! After this I headed back to the hotel for some internet time and sleep.
I woke up the next morning more excited than ever for my day of relaxing on a boat cruise through Ha Long Bay. What I woke up to was a little different. It was chilly and overcast and I was so bummed. We boarded our boat which was built to look like an old fishing boat but really it was brand new. I forgot to mention there were quite a few parents on our trip because Vietnam was the parent sponsored port. So we had about half students and half parents. It was really nice to see and meet everyone’s parents but it definitely made me miss my own a bit more! Anyways the boat itself was really cool so that lifted my spirits a bit. We headed to the top deck to check out the beautiful rock formations which are all over the bay. These rock formations look like huge mountains coming out of the water. They were so amazingly beautiful they are even being considered for one of the natural wonders of the world (rightfully so I might add!) On the way this tiny little boat came up next to ours filled with a family of 4 selling bananas. There was a tarp like roof on the boat which sort of covered up their living area. It was so sad they kept begging us to buy bananas from them. Most of the parents bought them so we all got to try some. Along our tour we stopped for some swimming and lunch! The lunch was amazing! I don’t normally like seafood but for some reason I loved what I ate on Ha Long Bay!
After the cruise we hopped back in the bus and headed towards Hanoi. Once we got there we settled into our hotel and got ready for the water puppet performance. We stopped for dinner than made our way to the show which was nothing like what I was expecting. I usually really like cultural performances and shows like this but I hate to say it this one was pretty boring. I mean there were people who were actually falling asleep in the theatre. How they actually maneuver the puppets though is pretty impressive. It is a huge pool of water with curtains running through the middle. Behind the curtains there is still water and a group of people who man the puppets. The puppets are all placed on huge long poles that the puppeteers hold behind the curtain. There was also a really great band that played on the side of the stage. I think another reason I found it so boring was because I didn’t understand what was going on since none of it was in English.
After the show a group of us decided to check out the Sofitel hotel which is the nicest hotel in Hanoi. They have an all you can eat chocolate buffet which we were dying to try! We walked there from the show through this gorgeous park. I forgot what it was called but it should have been called couples central! There were couples all over the park literally everywhere you looked there were people kissing or hugging or holding hands or making out or more… Anywhoo it was really interesting to see and we all felt a bit out of place walking through the park as if we were disturbing them! Once we got to the hotel we were all blown away. We sat at a table outside next to the pool. It was a bit pricier than we expected so we only stayed for two drinks. I’ll tell ya I felt like royalty though! I have never been treated so well in my life. I dono if it was because I was white, or of legal drinking age there, or a tourist, or that’s just how they treat everyone but it was great. After our drinks we took a cab back to our hotel which only cost 25,000 dong! I know it sounds like a lot but that’s only like a $1.50!
The next morning we woke up early and had a full day of tours planned. We began with the Mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh. I was creepishly excited for this because I have never seen anyone embalmed before so I didn’t know what to expect. The entire time I was in Vietnam I never once noticed anything that made me feel like I was in a communist country until we reached this area. We were not allowed to bring in our purses, cameras, we had to line up in single file lines, and NO talking. I felt like I was at boot camp or something. I was shocked at how many little kids were here to see Ho Chi Minh, there were hundreds of young children no older than 7 lined up to see him. In Vietnam apparently paying your respects to Ho Chi Minh is something that all citizens must do. Aswe approached the giant memorial tomb my stomach began doing knots. I wasn’t sure why but I sort of felt sick to my stomach. I’m still not really sure why it happened maybe it was the fact that I was about to view a dead body, maybe I couldn’t get over the idea that he was a big part of why we sent American troops to die over there, maybe it was the site of the young children jumping up and down in excitement to see this man but something just didn’t feel right. It was eerily cold in the building and I’m assuming that is to keep the body well preserved.
As we approached the room the lights went dim and all I could see was the backs of 2 guards around a black box. Once farther into the room I saw his body from the side. He is placed in a glass box and wrapped in a black velvet robe. When I finally made my way around the circle to the front I got a good look at him. He looked so creepy, exactly like a wax figure. There were two more guards on the other side of him. As I was looking at him I just kept thinking he was going to pop out at me! I’m glad I got to see it but it’s not something I am dying to do again.
Around the memorial is the area where HO Chi Minh lived for many years before he died. We visited the house on stilts where he spent his last years. It was a very peaceful area with a giant pond in the middle surrounded by beautiful Asian gardens. After this we visited the temple of literature. This was a really beautiful building in which old scholars used to learn and teach others. Then we made our way to the prison where the Vietnamese held captured American Pilots during the Vietnam War.
Our tour guide warned us that the museum was very skewed and full with propaganda. He basically told us that what we were about to see wasn’t exactly what went down in the 1960’s/70’s. The museum was in the actual prison that was used to hold these men. It was originally built by the French and used to hold Vietnamese Nationalist rebels during the French rule over Vietnam. It began with an explanation of how terrible the conditions were for the Vietnamese prisoners. During the French rule they treated the Vietnamese people with no respect, kindness, or humanity. They were fed very little if ever, forced to live in tiny cells with hundreds of other people, forced to live in an area surrounded with disease and illness, and they were tortured and killed. It really painted a picture of the terrors that occurred during the French rule of Vietnam.
The second half of the prison then switched gears towards the treatment of American Pilots during the war. This was the actual prison that John McCain was held captive in during the war. There were many pictures of him in the museum. We saw photos of him in the lake where he was taken by North Soldiers when his plane was gunned down (we actually visited the lake as well it was a tiny little thing about the size of 3rd bay at Waubee!) During this portion, the museum was designed to show the audience how well the North Soldiers treated the Americans even though they were doing these terrible things in the South. There were pictures of American pilots cooking dinner, attending Christmas Eve mass, writing to their families, playing cards, playing basketball, showing just how wonderful and nice staying in this prison was. The soldiers actually sarcastically nicknamed the prison the Hanoi Hilton. It was just insane how much this museum straight up lied to us. It was so ridiculous I had to just laugh it didn’t even make me mad I just had to laugh. After the museum we went to downtown Hanoi for lunch and shopping. I went a little crazy with the bootleg DVDs but I had to! We ate lunch at this great Western place where we got SOO much food. We got pizza, burgers, nachos, quesadillas, and ice cream! After all that Vietnamese food we really wanted something we were a little more used to.
While walking around we stumbled upon a fish market. It was a little smelly but boy was it cool. We were the only tourists in there as we walked around the back ally. There was fish of every kind swimming around little bowls just waiting to be bought. After the shopping we headed to the airport for our flight back to Ho Chi Minh City. Once home I went straight to bed because I had an early morning the next day.
On the last day I did a semester at sea trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Cao Dai Temple. Our first stop was the temple. Cao Dai is a religion which started in Vietnam. It is a combination of a majority of the major religions. It combines ideas and thoughts from Catholicism, Arabic, Buddhism, Confucianism, and other smaller religions. The temple was surprisingly large and very colorful. The exterior was yellow with a red roof and little statues everywhere coming out of the building. The windows had wooden vines wrapping around them with evil eyes everywhere. It was a beautiful building check out my pictures! It also had turquoises, blues, pinks, oranges, whites, golds, every color imaginable! We went inside and got to view a portion of a service from the upper balcony. It was so interesting half of the temple is lined with men and the other half women. From the middle of the temple back they wear all white robes. The middle section is filled with the priests in training. These men wear robes of red, yellow, or blue. The color of these robes signifies which religion they are placing an emphasis on in their study. The altar was beautiful and intricately decorated with different wood carvings, candles, incense, and gongs. The pillars had dragons running down them from top to bottom. Finally the ceiling was beautiful. On the ceiling on top of the altar they had carvings coming out of the ceiling of the founding fathers of all the religions. The ceiling lining the whole temple was painted like a sky in baby blue with clouds. It was fascinating to be here and to witness a ceremony. This is definitely a religion worth learning more about.
Next we drove to the Cu Chi Tunnels. I was very excited to see this and see what they were all about. After viewing so much about how terrible the Americans were to the Vietnamese it was about time I saw some of the things the people of Vietnam were doing to American soldiers. Once we got there we watched a short video which surprise surprise set the scene of Americans being terrible awful people. “Look at these evil devilish Americans ruining our lives. Lucky for Vietnam we had the people of Cu Chi.” Then they would list off soldiers who won medals in the war for killing mass amounts of Americans. For those of you who don’t know what the Cu Chi tunnels are they are a tunnel system set up by the people of Cu Chi (small town in Vietnam) during the 1960’s. American soldiers had taken over much of the area but the people of Cu Chi had so much pride in their nation they refused to leave. So they just built their living areas underground in an intricate set of tunnels systems that went down to about 200 feet. Underground they built terrible traps that were used to capture Americans and terribly hurt them. These traps weren’t meant to kill them but instead torture them slowly until they are captured and killed or bleed to death. These tunnels are ridiculously small. I do not know how these people fit in them and lived down there for months at a time.
We began at an entrance to one of the tunnels. There was a covering about the size of a computer screen. These were covered with leaves and dirt so that the Americans couldn’t see them. This camouflage worked surprisingly well, I couldn’t even tell it was there when I was staring right at it. I got into this little hole (barely but I did!) had a quick look around and hopped on out. One of the girls in our group actually got stuck in the hole. I felt so bad for her but she handled it very well. If that would have been me my face would have turned bright red with embarrassment. Then we moved on to the area which housed the different taps they would use to capture Americans. These traps were so brutally violent and terrible that it was hard for me to watch our guide show us a demonstration of how they worked. However it definitely helped me see why certain American soldiers acted the way they did in the war. It did not justify what they did or how they handled the war but it did allow me to see a bit more well rounded picture of the actions that took place.
After this we went to one of the tunnels we could climb in. I was terrified. I did not want to do it but I knew I would regret it if I didn’t so I climbed on in. We crawled through a tunnel that had been 4 times enlarged since the original. It was so tiny and dark. I was doing alright until people stopped to take photos in the tunnel. Then we were just sitting there in this tiny little tunnel it was sooo hot and I was sweaty and dirty, so I began to freak out. I just wanted to get out of that tunnel already. What if it had collapsed on me? Or I fainted in there? My mind just raced and I had to get out. Lucky for me I was pretty close to an exit so I crawled right on out. Afterwards I was really happy that I had done it. It allowed me to truly see what it had been like during that time for that group of people. The eeriest thing of all though was probably the faint sound of gunshots in the background. There was a shooting range on the grounds where people could shoot guns that were used by the Americans during the war.
Overall Vietnam was by far one of my favorite stops. It was the port that had the most impact on my life. It allowed me to take a step back and view America how the world did or does. It made me rethink some of the things that I do or things that I support. The experience I had in Vietnam was, well I don’t really think I know the right word for it. I want to say amazing because I loved it and it changed me as a person but I think that word would be inappropriate because of the terrible things I saw. I don’t want to say it was sad either because the people have bounced back or have truly forgiven Americans for what we had done to them. I think the only way I can describe it was life changing. I know its cheesy and stupid sounding and even a little impossible but that is what it was. Writing this blog really made me rethink about my experiences here and it still makes me emotional recalling the things I saw.

Thailand

We pulled into Laem Chabang port in Thailand on March 15th! After 5 days at sea I was more than ready to get on land again and have some days off of classes. Upon arrival my roommate and I really wanted to go out and see Thailand. However we were literally ported in just a port like there was nothing around except for the Harbor Mall. So we ventured there! It was a huge 6 story mall full of tiny little shops owned by Thai people and a few chains like KFC, Body Shop, and Starbucks! We wandered around the mall for a few hours before heading back to the ship. I went to go and buy a magazine and realized that this was the first country that EVERYTHING was in Thai. In almost all our previous countries it was easy to buy books or magazines in English. Thai print is beautiful looking, in writing it looks like a combination of Chinese and Arabic.
After the mall I headed to the Sri Racha Zoo. Once we got there we were able to watch an amazing Tiger show! There were about 12 full grown tigers in this cage with 2 ring leaders and 2 maintenance men. The tigers ran around the cage, did flips, rolled around on the ground, jumped up 10 feet in the air, and jumped through a ring of fire! Every once in a while they would roar and I would close my eyes out of fear that they were going to attack the ring leaders! Next we saw a crocodile show which was also amazing. There was about 10 crocodiles and two leaders. The crocs would circle around to bite them whenever they pulled them by the tails. A few times the leaders had to literally run away from them so they wouldn’t get bit. It was very scary so you can imagine how terrified I was when the two leaders stuck their heads in the crocodiles open mouths! It was crazy! I know they do it for a living but animals have a mind of their own and you never know when they are going to snap. Next we went to an elephant show which was hilarious. Thai people really have a very perverted sense of humor. They asked for two volunteers from the audience to come down to the floor for a demonstration. They picked a male and female and laid them both on the floor. The girl lay on her stomach and the elephant came up and moved his foot up and down on her back like a massage. Next it was the boys turn who was laying on his back. The elephant went up to him and moved his trunk up and down in an inappropriate area! The crowd went wild with laughter and we all kind of looked at each other like, “well welcome to Thailand!”
After that we got to do what I had been DYING to do for so long! Yes I got to hold a baby tiger in my arms and feed him. It was amazing! So cute so little but still so vicious, their teeth are huge and develop early. After that I went to the elephant area and had an elephant pick me up by his trunk! It was crazy cool but kind of gross. I was wearing shorts and its trunk was wet and hairy! Yuck!
Next we were headed to Mini Siam. None of us really knew what to expect because they didn’t tell us anything about it. Boy were we shocked at what we saw. Mini Siam is literally an outdoor park full of miniature monuments! It was hilariously strange! We saw the Eifel tower, statue of liberty, Mount Rushmore, Trieve fountain, Egyptian pyramids, and the Sydney opera house! It was really cool but a very weird idea for a park. Some of the models were very realistic and detailed like the one of the coliseum!
Our tour guide then decided to take us to a gem factory. It was like one of those rides in Disney world where you sit on a moving like train and it tells you a story. It began with how gems are found in caves, then mined, then made into jewelry, how they affect Thai culture, how kings and queens from all over the world use gems, and it finished in the massive shop! On the walk to the shop we passed hundreds of workers filing down gems and creating silver settings for jewelry. It was fascinating to watch and made me think about how even the crappiest little piece of jewelry I own has someone’s hard work behind it.
Bangkok
The next morning I woke up early and got ready for the 2 hour bus ride to Bangkok. In the Thai language Bangkok has the longest name out of any city in the world! It’s over 118 letters long! We thought our guide was joking at first because the name just kept going and going and going! Once we arrived in Bangkok we headed to the river city. Bangkok has a canal system and many people live on the rivers and have to take water taxis to and from their homes. There was even an ice cream boat that cruised around. Throughout the river they have Kimono dragons and we saw 3 of them resting up on a ledge. The houses on the river all look very run down. They look like a tornado hit them and they hadn’t repaired their homes yet.
After this we headed to the hotel for lunch and a little relaxing. I decided to go shopping on my free time (surprise surprise) at the MBK mall. It was huge 6 stories tall and full of tons of shops. It was more like a structured indoor market with people selling lots of handicrafts, knockoffs, and bootleg DVDs. I spent about 2 hours there and bought a great backpacking backpack for only 200 baht! Which is only about 6 bucks!
For dinner we headed to this great little place down the street from our hotel. On the way we passed a countless number of tailors and massage parlors. Once at the restaurant they had a private room set up for us with two long dinner tables facing a stage. For our meal we had 5 little mini dishes. The first was a soup that had tiny clear fish eggs at the bottom, then we had a mini salad, chicken curry dish which tasted like perfume, we had orange fish, and finally white rice! All over Asia fruit is the most common desert so we had pineapple and watermelon. After dinner we were ready to watch the traditional Thai dance show.
It began with a brief summary of the motions that they use and their meanings behind them. A young man and a woman walked out on stage covered head to toe in golden costumes. I was really shocked at how much makeup the man was wearing it was pretty heavily caked on and I wasn’t really sure why, our guide didn’t seem to know why either. It was strange it made all of the men look almost identical to the women and their dance moves were so graceful and feminine.
The second act was a group of 7 women in purple costumes who floated around the stage in perfect unison smiles plastered on their faces at all times. Literally we did not see one of them without a smile on! I wondered if when they turned to the back if they stopped smiling just for one second, I would. The next dance was the traditional bird dance. This dance is performed by one woman adorned in a costume suited with wings and fake long fingers. In Thai dancing there are a lot of dance moves performed by the fingers alone. These dancers can fold their fingers back and around in every which direction it makes me wonder if they have broken them or done something to them because normal hands do not bend back like that. The next dance was an amazing dance performed with fans! This was my second favorite one. Finally my favorite dance was the last one and this was a staged warrior fight dance. Two of the men wore masks while the other two were suited in the traditional costumes and full face of makeup! It was great though the way they moved across the stage was so well choreographed. The fight scene was really cool too because it really was more of a staged dance than a staged battle. Overall I loved Thai dancing. It was so graceful and beautiful. These dancers are very well paid for what they do and they deserve to be.
After dinner we headed towards the night market which I soon realized was in the red light district of Bangkok. The night market was rows and rows of knockoff purses, jewelry, sunglasses, clothing, you name it and it was there! I walked around with my friend Ashley and I noticed she was bargaining for a shirt so I decided to go and help her. I asked Ashley if she wanted it and she replied yes so we tried getting it for 150 baht and the shop owner said no. So we just walked away. She then came up to us and said ok yes and started handing Ashley the shirt, well Ashley had decided to change her mind and she didn’t want it anymore. Never EVER bargain someone down to the price you want have them agree with it and then not pay it. It is considered very rude and we found this out the hard way. We said no she screamed some profanities at us and started following us through the market. It was very scary especially because the area we were in was not the greatest. The strangest thing of all was that each of the people who had a stand at the market had a tazer gun. The sound of tazing rang through the market shop owners would just sit on their little stools and play with them. That’s why Ashley and I were so scared of this shop owner who was chasing us! Who knew what she was going to do to us! Luckily we lost her as we weaved in and out of the market. As I was shopping for some sunglasses I almost got run over by….an elephant! It was crazy it literally came out of nowhere. Owning elephants as pets is illegal in Thailand but it is not widely enforced so people walk around with elephants and ask tourists to take pictures of it. I was all elephanted out after the zoo and India.
Walking around the red light district was quiet an experience. There were strip clubs everywhere you turned with huge open windows facing the market so you could see everything inside from the streets. The women everywhere just looked so sad. The sex industry in Thailand is a huge industry and one that many women get forced into out of necessity for money. It kind of reminded me of being in Las Vegas except sleazier if that is possible. There were men and women on the street harassing you to come in and see a “ping-pong” show. It really was very sad to witness. On a brighter note though towards the end of the market they had regular bars with live bands playing some great music. It was very fun to walk around the market listen to good music have a delicious drink and just chill out!
The next morning we had a full morning of tours planned. Our first visit was to a Buddhist monk temple. Here we were able to see the inside of the temple housing a golden Buddha decorated with elaborate candles and flowers. We were also given the opportunity to talk to a few monks. In Thailand it is expected that almost all men go through a period of time where they become a monk. You can join and devote your entire life to it or you can leave whenever you please. We spoke with a man who had been a monk for 5 years and a man who had only been a monk for 5 days. It was pretty apparent which man was which because monks are only allowed one meal per day! The man who had only been a monk for 5 days was a bit chunky while the other was rail thin and hardly fit in his orange monk wrap! After that we visited my favorite favorite place ever! The reclining Buddha! This Buddha was HUGE our guide told us it would be big but this thing was massive. When I walked in I was honestly in shock and awe I don’t know how in the hell they built such a beautiful and great Buddha. It was in a reclined position with its head resting on one of his arms and the side of his body on the ground. Many people mistakenly call him the sleeping Buddha but it is really just a reclining Buddha which is a famous position. This place was honestly so cool look at my pictures to see just how incredible it was.
Next we went to the grand palace which is a combination of temples and palace where the kings used to live. This was the first place I have visited that strongly enforced the dress code. Here you weren’t allowed to show your shoulders, knees, wear tight pants, jeans that had holes in them all that jazz. If you were dressed inappropriately you weren’t allowed inside and you had to go rent a wrap and shirt! They were so funny they were like Hawaiian print sarongs for the bottoms and a cheesy Hawaiian print shirt! It was great to see these people walking around (mostly American tourists.) We started on the temple side and saw the huge golden pagodas, fountains, and monuments elaborately decorated with gems, glitters, gold, and other jewels. We visited the temple of the emerald Buddha which is also a very famous place. Buddhists still go here to pray today so it is a combination of tourists checking it out and locals coming to pray. They call it the emerald Buddha but it is actually made out of Jade. Next we were off the palace side which was filled with interesting Asian style buildings with crazy swooping roofs. They have armed guards standing everywhere who can’t speak to you so of course we posed for some pics next to them. It was really creepy though because they have a huge dagger at the end of their guns that we all came dangerously close to.
After this we headed to lunch across the river at a local Thai restaurant. Here we ate delicious Thai food with many different dishes again. We had orange chicken, fish, pepper beef, white rice, and of course fruit for dessert! I then headed to a different hotel to meet up with some other people for the night. I was traveling to this hotel by myself and a little nervous to get around considering I am not fluent in Thai! So I showed him the name of my hotel and he shook his head and said he knew where it was. Well turns out he didn’t and I was wandering around Bangkok with my cab driver for like an hour trying to find my hotel! Turns out it is like the biggest hotel in Bangkok so either he tried to scam me or he couldn’t read what my hotel was. Oh well. Once I got there I settled in a bit and headed to the huge mall across the street. This was the first mall I have been in while traveling overseas that was very similar to home with stores we have at home and things like that. I went a little crazy with the shopping because of this. Haha I hadn’t had a chance to shop at places that sell real clothes in sooo long! Anyways after that we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our St. Patty’s day celebration Thailand style!
We began the night with a few drinks in the hotel lobby. Lucky for us they were closing so all their deserts were half off! So we had some singah beers and cookies! Ha then we hopped in a cab and went to Kao Sung road which is also known as the backpackers road because there are tons of hostels on it. At night they close off the road so people can walk through the streets without worrying about cars. We ate dinner outside at this small little Thai restaurant where I got delicious cashew chicken and white rice for a buck! Oh and we also got bucket drinks for 4 bucks! The night was off to a good start and things only got better when we left the restaurant and saw a large display of green balloons. They led us right to an Irish pub! What better way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?!?!?! This Asian woman working the door saw our excitement and immediately grabbed my arm and started dragging me inside!
Upstairs they had a great band playing all sorts of American songs, British songs, and a few Irish songs. It was really fun and I got to meet SOOOO many people that night. My friends were all busy hanging out with their men for the night so I was left to my own devices to meet people and it was amazing. I met people from all over Europe and Australia who were on vacation in Thailand. These two girls in particular were a blast. They were from London and had just graduated high school and were taking a year off to travel the world before going to “Uni.” It was so much fun talking with them and hearing all their stereotypes about Americans and the things we say and do. Some of my favorite memories from being here have to do with the interactions I’ve been having with people. Just discussing cultural differences between places and differences in people is so fascinating. So 5 hours later at around 3 am we filed out of the pub and head back to our hotel. But not before stopping at the McDonalds across the street! Ha it was open 24 hours and was the nicest McDonalds I’ve ever been in! They had waiters that come and serve your food! It was crazy different but way cool.
Well the next morning we all decided to sleep in a bit ha it was something we all needed. It was so fun there were 5 of us in our hotel room so we put our 2 queen size beds together and had one big slumber party! Ha well today we just wandered around the streets of Bangkok for a few hours and hung out at the hotel pool. I had to face reality for a few hours though and find some internet so I could pick out my classes for Fall Semester back at Iowa and let me tell you it was not a fun reality check!
That night I got on the bus back to the ship and went straight to bed. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired in my whole life! Plus I had to wake up the next morning at 8am to go to the Nong Nooch Cultural Village.
8 am rolls around a lot faster than you think when you are runnin on limited hours of sleep. We went to the Nong Nooch Village which was just passed Pattaya. Here we explored the beautiful gardens and amazing sculptures thrown together by terra cotta pots! They also had a strange section with wild animals that you could take photographs with. They had an orangutan dressed in a polo and shorts, parrots, monkeys, and even a cheetah! They all looked so miserable though so no pictures here for me. We then headed to the show in which I was able to see some more Thai dancing. This experience was much different than my first one though. This show was geared way more for tourists and had tons of flashy props and different dances going on at the same time. They staged a Muay Thai boxing match which was pretty cool to watch. Muay Thai is a huge part of their culture here and Muay Thai fighters are treated very well. The finale of the show included an elephant battle where elephants came out of nowhere on the sides of the stage with actors strapped to their backs raging a full on battle! It was very unexpected and crazy to watch.
It lead perfectly into the elephant show we were about to watch. I know more elephants! Ha pretty cool thing to complain about though huh seeing too many elephants? Anyways this show was way better than the first. They had elephants playing soccer, riding a bike, throwing darts, and the best was the elephants painting. They train these elephants to paint different flowers and trees. It’s really wild how these massive animals can be trained to do such things. After the show we were given free time to wander around and see more of the park. It was definitely a tourist trap but still a pretty fun place to visit.
I loved Thailand. It was a fabulous country full of different things to do. The nightlife there is amazing and the food is even better! Shopping was dirt cheap with so many great deals since a lot of clothing is made in Thailand. The people were all very nice. One of my best memories is when I was walking the streets of Bangkok and this local woman just struck up a conversation with me. It was great hearing about her life and I told her about mine. We had walked 5 blocks before I noticed I was back at my hotel. Thai dancing was beautiful and the temples and shrines that line the streets make you feel like you are in an Ancient Asian novel or something! It was great and I would love love love to go back there if I am ever given the opportunity.

INDIA

We pulled into India on March 5th and boy was I nervous. We had tons of debriefings on what to expect when we got to India. They drilled in our minds what foods to eat and what not (they convinced us all we would get travelers D if we ate about 90% of the food) they warned us about the traffic, child beggars, hawkers, and sketchy rickshaw drivers. But nothing could prepare us for what we were about to experience. I took one step outside in Chennai and immediately felt like I needed to shower. I don’t mean to sound harsh or rude but the pollution there is just ridiculous. Everywhere you look there are literally piles and piles of garbage on the sides of the streets, around the markets, the grounds are black like an oil spill, and the smell oh the smell is very potent. You can literally feel the pollution on your body as you walk around. That mixed with the humidity was very overwhelming. And I wasn’t even outside for long! I just walked from the ship to a bus to take me to the airport for my flight to New Delhi.
The flight was good, it was a big plane which surprised me and they served us lunch! It was a chicken tika sandwich which was basically like a chicken salad sandwich but with curry or something. I really liked it! We arrived in Delhi 3 hours later. We found our bus and we were off for a small orientation then to the hotel. We stopped at the oldest mosque in India. It was made out of tons of stones and was beautiful, Muslims still come there to pray facing Mecca. It was especially cool because the tower was so tall that the moon appeared to be at the top of it! I love it when it is still light outside and you can see the moon! One thing that I found strange was the public displays of affection between straight men. Straight men in India hold hands when they walk, put their arms around each other, and even kiss! However a male and female couple cannot do any of these things in public. I’m a pretty open minded person but I’ll admit it was hard not to look when you saw this. After we went to a rug store. Here they served us tea and biscuits and gave us a little demonstration on how to make these beautiful rugs. These rugs were made out of silk so they were super soft but wicked expensive! All over India they hear that you are American and they automatically associate it with money. To them it is a pretty accurate statement and I see why they do it but our tour guide should have known better. He took us to all these expensive shops that were owned by his friends (which is impossible to avoid in India) and they expected us to buy things. I’m sorry but as a college student I do not have 300 US dollars to spend on a rug (and that was the cheapest one there!) And it made us all feel really guilty because they spent so much time and energy showing us their beautiful things.
Now we were headed to our hotel. We spent the night at the La Lit in New Delhi. This was the NICEST hotel I have ever stayed at in my whole life no joke. It was amazing. They greeted you with shook rah (they place the red dot on your head for peace and happiness). We then went up to our rooms we were shocked at what we saw! The shower was a rain shower where water just came out of the ceiling like rain! It was so cool and the bathroom walls were all made out of glass and then there were curtains that went down when you used them. The food there was amazing best buffet I have ever been to. They had Indian food like roti bread, chicken curry, lamb, saffron rice, and many more. They also had American food with pizza and chicken fingers! And they had Japanese food with noodles and sushi it was great! A much needed relief to all of us who were very nervous for our first Indian meal. I bought internet minutes so that I could update my pictures up to India so check out my face book cause I paid to put pictures up for all of you guys! It’s so hard to describe in words what some of these places look like so you should go check them out.
The next day we had an early wake up call. We were off to Jaipur by 7 am. Along the way we drove through Old Delhi and I was a little shocked at some of the things that I saw. The electricity here is spread through huge thick wires that spiral all over the tops of buildings but the buildings aren’t very tall so they are all like right above your head. There are hundreds of thick wires that look almost like large spaghetti noodles coming out of one source looping all around the city. It is honestly ridiculous and one big fire waiting to happen.
Along the 4 hour drive to Jaipur we stopped at a restaurant for a little rest stop that had an absolutely gorgeous garden. With a cage full of cool yellow birds I wish I knew what they were. I bought some chips that looked like they were going to be sour cream and onion turned out to be curry!!!! YUCK! After the drive we finally arrived in the pink city of Jaipur! I was surprised at what I saw. I was expecting it to be a beautiful city full of gorgeous huge pink buildings. What I got was a city with rundown buildings painted pink. From the comfort of the tall bus we were able to look at the poor beggars on the streets. Literally dozens of kids running around begging for money, putting their hands up to their mouths screaming for food,crying all around you. It breaks your heart. I’ve never in my life felt guiltier. On the sidewalks there are make shift tent houses. Can you imagine walking down the sidewalk and seeing people living there? They would cook their meals on little stone fires on the sidewalks! I mean it was incredibly sad I can’t even describe it I saw children going to the bathroom on the sidewalk. We were told ahead of time not to give to these children because they are usually a part of bigger beggar gangs in which a lot of the money doesn’t even go to them. So a lot of the time we would just give them our extra food and they would snatch it so fast they didn’t even have time to thank you. They would take your food and run away to a corner or secret spot so that their friends who were running fast behind them could not eat their food.
We checked into our next hotel ate a little lunch and were off to the city palace! This was in the heart of Jaipiur and is one of the only palaces still around in India in which the king actually resides. Here we walked through the dozens of hawkers to get to the main gate. I saw a man who was so deformed he permanently walked around on the ground like a spider and a young girl with a tumor on the back of her head so big it looked like a giant mango. I have never been so disturbed in my whole life and there was nothing that I could do for them. It felt very wrong to go from passing them into a luxurious gigantic palace. Once inside we saw an Indian dance performance. The odd thing was though that it was a man dressed up as a woman doing the dance. I thought maybe it was because of religious reasons because that’s why it was like that in Morocco. Turns out however that the woman dancer was just sick so the man was filling in for her! Strange! Our guide told us about the mystical Unix which are considered sacred in India. A Unix is like the equivalent of a hermaphrodite in America she/he has both male and female parts. The Unix in India have beautiful faces like women but more of the mainly body structure. They are taken from their homes upon birth and sent to live with other Unix where they learn how to dance the sacred dances. These people then perform at events, for the kings, and other things. It was very interesting but so sad because these people have absolutely no choice in the direction of their lives. Still today this is practiced. There was a Unix only a few years ago who went off to college, was discovered to be a Unix, and then immediately removed from their home. The Unix and his family had absolutely NO say in the matter. I can’t even imagine anything like that ever being done in the states. It all start with the idea that these people were sent by the gods that they are special. Back in the day queens would surround themselves with Unix because they were not considered a threat to her relationship with the king. I found this all to be very fascinating.
While at the palace we saw a few different rooms, an old museum, and the best part is we saw the King of Jaipur!!! I guess he is rarely at the palace so it was pretty special that we got to see him. We saw him getting into a private car surrounded by 5 guards. Even though I didn’t know who he was I felt so star struck! It was amazing. We then headed to an old observatory which was used in the early years in order to tell time. There were meridian lines, old sun dials, and different stations with astrological signs. It was said that if you stand next to your sign you will see your future. I didn’t see mine but it was still cool! After all this our guide took us to one of his friends jewelry shops in which we could afford nothing. We then went back to the hotel for dinner.
After dinner there was a hilariously entertaining puppet show. The show was right outside the hotel so the workers were not allowed inside. They would beg us to run in and get more people for them. They tried to adapt their show to us as college students with some hilarious skits. One was the Indian Michael Jackson in which the puppet did the moon walk and gyrated on the floor! There were a few other inappropriate skits they did that I can tell you about it you ask haha. I bought one of their puppets at the end a really cool turquoise one! It was then off to bed before the early morning visit to the Amber fort!
Amber fort was amazing. We started the day by riding up to the top of it on….an elephant!!! Ours was named Maria but it was a boy! Strange yes and it was the slowest and biggest elephant all the other elephants passed us on the drive up. All I kept think as I was on it is this elephant could lay down right now do a little roll and squash me dead! But he didn’t thank god and we made it to the top to see the beautiful fort. We began in the garden area. There were two different sides to the garden one for winter and one for summer. The winter one was beautiful! There were mirrors all over the walls in elaborate shapes and designs. In the 18th century it took only one candle to light up the entire room! The summer side was beautiful too with soft pastel colored flowers lining the walls. We were then off to the queens quarters. The king who the castle was built for had 12 wives! Each had their own room all differing in size based on how long they had been married to him. There was a huge courtyard in the middle. Inside this courtyard there was a huge hole in the ground that at one time was used for all the queens to bathe in (also went in order of how long they had been married to the king.) Dead center there was pillars with an open rooftop that used to be used as a lounge area. One can only imagine how amazing this place must have been. Huge satin pillows thrown all over the ground, silk drapes of turquoise, fuschia, lavender, lime green, every color under the sun! It was so fun to sit there and imagine what it would have been like to have actually lived there.
After the fort we headed to Agra where we would see the Taj the next day! On the way we stopped at another fort called Fatehpur Sikri. This fort was amazing as well. All the buildings were made out of red stone. This king was married to three wives, one a Hindu from India, a Muslim from Turkey, and a Christian woman from Portugal. The design of the fort incorporated all these different architectural styles. The pillars had three different sections. One was inspired by the Moors this was the geometric style which had all different symmetrical shapes. The second section was inspired by the Gothic style it had all different types of arches and crosses. And finally the third section was the Hindu inspired architecture I found this one the most beautiful. This one had tons of different shaped flowers carved out into the pillars. He married the Hindu woman first so she was his number one wife until the Muslim woman gave him a son and the tables turned! I loved this place because it was crazy to see the three different religions combine in architecture to form something so beautiful!
We arrived in Agra at around 7pm. We checked into the hotel and were ready to explore. A group of about 5 of us were DYING to go to a market so our tour guide said he would take us (finally he was listening). Turns out he of course took us to two of his friends shops (nowhere near a market.) Finally we were so upset with him that he promised to take us somewhere cool. He took us to his friend’s music shop where he immediately left us. We were all a bit shocked at first but decided to make the most of it. We were taken to the back room where the men had tea ready for us. There was a mini stage and a man holding a funny looking guitar and a mini piano thing. It was a Citare store which is like a type of guitar but way cooler and it gives off a way different sound. You only strum the first string on it the whole time which I found really weird. The two performed for us and we shared some drinks and conversation and it turned out to be a great night! They even let me try the Citare! Which I absolutely sucked at oh well. After this we headed back to the hotel for dinner. I was in roti bread heaven! Most of you know I am obsessed with Flat Top Grill, I go there for there roti bread! So India was definitely the right place for me! Roti bread for breakfast (with syrup like pancakes) lunch and dinner! Then it was off to bed for our early morning visit to the Taj Mahal!!!
We arrived near the Taj at around 8am. You have to park like half a mile away because they don’t want the pollution from the cars to ruin the marble or gardens. As we walked up to the front gate to get into the Taj the tip top of the building was visible. It peered right over the fort that surrounds the Taj Mahal. Walking through the gates and garden I could not believe what I was about to see. When I first saw it I was in awe. Words can’t even describe the way I felt it was amazing. I just felt so lucky to be where I was standing viewing one of the most amazing sites in the entire world! We got there right when it opened and people were everywhere! So here is a little Taj Mahal history I learned as I stared my jaw dropped to the floor at the incredibly massive Taj! So the Taj Mahal was built by the King of India as a memorial to his wife. Before his wife died she had two requests. The first was to never marry again and the second was for him to build her the most beautiful memorial in the world in her honor. And let me tell you he was successful. The Taj Mahal is made out of all white marble and a very special type of glue no nails or anything like that. Next to it there are two identicial buildings. On the right is a mosque which is still used today by muslims to pray which is why the Taj is actually closed on Fridays. On the left is a building that was used as a welcome reception hall. The inside of the Taj houses to replicas of the tombs the King and Queen are buried in. Before the King died he requested that a matching memorial be built behind the Taj in his honor. He wanted it to be built out of black marble! Can you imagine how incredible that would have been? However his son said no and just buried him in the Taj.
I really wish I was better at describing how amazing it was. As I stood in front of the long pond staring at the massive white marble dome it didn’t feel real. None of it. Not being in India, not looking at the Taj, nothing that I was experiencing felt like it was actually happening. How did I get this lucky?
After that we headed to a marble shop owned by descendants of the King who built the Taj. There they use the same secret glue mixture to put together chairs and tables and other things. They add beautiful precious gems to the table tops. They mold and shape the gems on this old school wheel like file. We watched them molding these tiny stones for about ten minutes. Then the owner asked me if I wanted to try it! I reluctantly agreed. The man who’s wheel I was walking up to seemed very nervous and shot the owner a worried look because they work on these stones for hours! And here I was about to screw up his hard work in about 1 minute! I couldn’t even hold the gem it was so tiny. I pressed it once up against the wheel then freaked out and stopped. I didn’t want to ruin it but it was still cool that they let me try. Then we were off to the airport to fly back to our ship in Chennai.
The next day in Chennai I had a lot of shopping to do! Chennai was muggy, hot and very very polluted. We hopped in a touk touk which are very dangerous little open cabs they look kind of like golf carts but smaller. These rickshaw drivers drive like mad men! Let me tell you I saw my life flash before my eyes on numerous occasions. We went to Spencer’s Mall but not before stopping at 2 shops owned by the touk touk drivers friends. At the second shop our driver ditched us because we already paid him. Lucky for us the mall was only a block away from where we were! Here there were hundreds of little shops! I bought lots of silk scarves, pasminas, bangles, and other types of jewelry. For lunch we ate at Pizza Hut! In my defense though Pizza Hut in India is like a legit restaurant with crazy types of pizza that we do not have in the States!
On the way back to the ship we stopped at this place on the ocean called the Ice House. Apparently way back in the day before the people of India could create ice they had to import it. After it came in to port in huge blocks it was sent to the ice house! I am not sure how much I believe this story. Some crazy Indian lady told us but it was still kinda cool. On the way home Win handed out some slippers that he stole from his hotel the night before to the little beggar children on the streets. The ones that got them cheered and chanted like they had just won the lottery or accomplished something very impressive!
Overall I hate to say it but I was a little disappointed in India. I don’t think it was the country itself that disappointed me I just don’t think I had the same amazing experience as most did. The trip I selected to do was not what I had expected. We spent majority of our time in a bus, any of our free time was spent at shops of our tour guides friends, and no one listened to what we wanted to do. On the brighter side however I LOVED the Taj Mahal it was incredibly moving. I was able to see how basically the polar opposite country of America works.
India was crazy beautiful at times and disgusting at others. It was a shock to the senses. One second you saw beautiful colorful bright Indian dress the next garbage all over the streets. You smelled beautiful flowers being sold in the markets then the overwhelming smell of poop. You would try a delicious curry dish at one restaurant then a disgusting mutton at another. The best way I can describe it is India was a very interesting country full of surprises.
Oh and I almost forgot to tell you about the cows! In India cows are considered very sacred. They coexist peacefully with humans. Literally these huge massive cattle roam around the streets of India all by themselves. They don’t have owners of caretakers. People will feed them but mostly they just graze off the garbage found on the streets. In India if you hit a cow with your car it is more than a thousand dollar fine!!! It was a very unique experience to walk among the cattle while you shop around. Finding a burger in India is an impossible task!